Difficult Teens
2019
Original language: Russian
- drama
- comedy
The story
Popular football player Anton Kovalev, after spending two years in prison for a drunken brawl in a cafe, is released. The offense blocked the successful career of Kovalev, who was previously the captain of the Russian national team. The reputation of a "downed pilot" does not allow him to continue his favorite business and get a prestigious job. The head of the center for difficult teenagers, Herman, who once raised Anton, offers him a place in the center to prepare difficult children for the local Olympics. Out of desperation, Kovalev agrees to the offer, but he does not even imagine how difficult it will be to find a common language with the guys, and what an important place they can take in his life.
What it’s like
Shot in the grey-green realism of a provincial Russian town, this series moves between a muddy training pitch, a dim cafeteria, and the cramped corridors of a youth centre, with daylight that looks flat and overcast for much of its run. Its comedy is dry and character-driven, sitting alongside a sports-team rhythm of drills, bickering and small victories, so the mood is rueful rather than bleak. Scenes tend to run loose and conversational, letting awkward silences and locker-room banter breathe before a sharp joke lands. Fights and arguments do occur, and the teenagers' bad behaviour can flare into rough shoving or the brawls that shaped the backstory, but the violence is brief, rarely graphic, and not the focus. Emotionally it is warm and slow-building: a hard-edged man who has lost his standing gradually learns to trust a group of kids who trust him even less. It suits a lazy weekend evening, a comfort rewatch, or a background episode while tidying up. It is best for viewers who enjoy sports stories with a sardonic streak and an arc about second chances, rather than anyone seeking a tense thriller.
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